Jealous God | Jealous for God

We can be listening to the song and it speaks volume when it comes to relationships. The lover can be possessive. In this case, we call it as it is…jealous.

Reading through the book of Exodus, we encounter a Jealous God. He says…

for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14

Really? God is a jealous God? What does that even mean?

The dictionary defines “Jealousy” as…

In a human relationship, jealousy is a feeling. In a relationship with God, it is also His feelings towards us. Unhappy. Angry. Hurt. In the book, KillJoys, Joe Rigney differentiates Jealousy from Envy.

Jealousy is oriented towards what we possess;Envy is oriented towards the possession of others.

He continues by saying jealousy is not necessarily a sin. In the case of God, He is concerned about us. We are His, after all. When we submit to His Lordship, we surrendered our rights, our hearts, and we gave up everything so in an essence, God has the right to be jealous towards what He possess (which is us).

Another theologian puts it even more beautifully…

John Piper talks more about God’s jealousy as a covenant, between a husband and a wife, that it isn’t really about feelings but rather, of having his honor and power and mercy being scorned by our faithlessness.

Thus, it is just right that we, as Christians, be jealous for God’s name. We should be protective of our relationship with our Lord.

Here are three ways we show that we are NOT jealous for God’s name.

#1 We are not jealous for God when we make FALSE PROMISES.

A false promise is defined as giving your word for something you don’t have an intention of executing or following through with. When we “swear”, or say “cross my heart, hope to die”, or whenever we say we are going to do something and we don’t do it, then we are making a false promise. Jesus said in Matthew 5:33-35…

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.”

In short, Jesus tells us not to make promises. His brother, James, restated it…

Simply put it. Don’t make promises. When you say something, do it. When you say no, stand by it.

#2 We are NOT jealous for God’s name when we make FALSE PLATITUDE.

Plati…whut?

Platitude – a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful. In simple terms, False Platitude is when we make Glorious God, inglorious.

When we use God’s name and therefore projecting and presenting God in a fashion of emptiness, falsehood, triviality, lightness or inconsequentially. That is false platitude.

Here are a few examples…

When we say, “Oh My God”, or when we take His name lightly…that is false platitude. Another one would be…

While this shirt says “Jesus saves”, this degrades Jesus into a soccer player. Do we even take salvation seriously? That it took His life to save us? That it took a very painful process to get our sin and place it upon himself? It’s not about being conservative or traditional, it is when we belittle what Jesus did…this is another example of false platitude. How about these…

Jesus is reduced to memes. What would we feel if we are the one who is the object of the meme? Will we still find it cool? Will we still find it funny?

You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:12

The point of false platitude is profaning the name of God. The Jews would not even dare write the word “God” but here we are, we reduce Him to memes.

Lastly, #3 we are NOT jealous for God’s name when we have FALSE PRETENSES.

When we pretend to be Christians but we know that the truth is we aren’t. We are putting God’s name in vain. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23…

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart fro me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Just because we go to a Christian school, or because we go to church, or we spend time in the youth, it doesn’t mean we are Christians. We fall under FALSE PRETENSE when we do things for God but really do not have a relationship with Him.

The point of not putting God’s name in vain is our relationship with Him. God is a Jealous God. God’s jealousy is a threat to those who take Him lightly. God’s jealousy is a comfort to those who are in a relationship with Him.

Depending on our relationship with God, His jealousy has different effects on us. So which is it in your case? Comfort or Threat?

Can you do me a favor? If these ideas resonate with you, would you:

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